Ben's Winter Update

 Part of me is glad to be back at Grand Valley and the other part wants to go back to vacation. I'm excited to get back into a routine, but I would much rather be in a sunnier and warmer place than Michigan right now. Over break, I relaxed at home for a good portion of the time, but I did go on a road trip down south over break. My family and I ended up driving through 11 states although we spent the majority of our travels in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. We got really lucky with the weather, thankfully, and didn't have to deal with rain or snow until we started going back north. I planned out the activities we did as a family for New Orleans, and one place I researched and went to was actually relevant to this class. There's a building called the cabildo, which is something we talked about briefly as sort of a governmental building in Spanish colonies. Nowadays, the building is a museum in the heart of the French Quarter showcasing the history of New Orleans. There were some displays talking about Spanish influence in the cabildo itself that I related to what I learned. My expectation for the class is that the second semester should be consistent with the first semester. It would throw me off to have something completely different from one semester to the next, but I doubt there are going to be drastic changes anyways. My goal for the second semester is to stay motivated and productive.

(Cabildo and St. Louis Cathedral, Jackson Square)



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